Alexander Granach

Biography

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Alexander Granach (April 18, 1890 – March 14, 1945) was a popular German actor in the 1920s and 1930s who immigrated to the United States in 1938. Granach was born Jessaja Gronach in Werbowitz (Wierzbowce/Werbiwci) (Horodenka district, Austrian Galicia then, now Verbivtsi, Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, Ukraine), to Jewish parents and rose to theatrical prominence at the Volksbühne in Berlin. Granach entered films in 1922; among the most widely exhibited of his silent efforts was the vampire classic Nosferatu (1922), in which the actor was cast as Knock, the lunatic counterpart to Renfield, effectively a substitute name for Dracula. He co-starred in such major early German talkies as Kameradschaft (1931). The Jewish Granach fled to the Soviet Union when Hitler came to power. When the Soviet Union also proved inhospitable, he settled in Hollywood, where he made his first American film appearance as Kopalski in Ernst Lubitsch's Ninotchka (1939) for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Granach proved indispensable to film makers during the war years, effectively portraying both dedicated Nazis (he was Julius Streicher in The Hitler Gang, 1944) and loyal anti-fascists. Perhaps his best role was as Gestapo Inspector Alois Gruber in Fritz Lang's Hangmen Also Die! (1943). His last film appearance was in MGM's The Seventh Cross (1944), in which almost the entire supporting cast was prominent European refugees.

Known For

Knock

Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens

Comrade Kopalski

Ninotchka

Gestapo Insp. Alois Gruber

Hangmen Also Die!

Mann ist Mann

Angelo

Voice in the Wind

Kasper

Kameradschaft

Gestapo Agent

Joan of Paris

Shadowplayer

Schatten – Eine nächtliche Halluzination

Zillich

The Seventh Cross

Mr. Nikolas

Half Way to Shanghai

Schigolch

Erdgeist

Major Braginski

Three Russian Girls

Marat

Danton

ein Gefangener

Lucrezia Borgia

Jaurès' Friend

1914, die letzten Tage vor dem Weltbrand

Soldier (uncredited)

The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Freie Fahrt

Redner

Der Raub der Mona Lisa

Stranger

Der Adjutant des Zaren

Karsten

Die zwölfte Stunde

Danilo, rich gypsy camp leader

Последний табор

Tim Oberta

My Buddy

Paco

For Whom the Bell Tolls

Hotel Valet (uncredited)

Foreign Correspondent

Rovelli

Борцы

Diener bei Alfredo

Die berühmte Frau

Beppo, Legionär

Flucht in die Fremdenlegion

Pierre - Man in Casino

Northwest Rangers

The Pole

So Ends Our Night

Coco

Großstadtschmetterling

Pollaczek

Ich hatte einst ein schönes Vaterland

Die Radio Heirat

Geiger Gecko

Svengali

Gestino

Das letzte Fort

Shoemaker

Der Mensch am Wege

Judas Ischariot

I.N.R.I. - Ein Film der Menschlichkeit

Joe Poska

Wrecking Crew

Murphy

Qualen der Nacht

Ferucchio

Paganini

Archivar Lindhorst

Ein Weib, ein Tier, ein Diamant

Russian Air Force Officer (uncredited)

Mission to Moscow

Clegg

Die Tänzerin Navarro

Polizeibericht Überfall

Camera obscura

T. Amato

A Man Betrayed

Julius Streicher

The Hitler Gang

Knock - ein Häusermakler

Radiohead X Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror

Minor Role (rumored)

Danton